RECENT POSTS

Once Upon a Time With the Evangelicals
I used to call myself an evangelical Christian. It was supposed to be a welcoming term, a term that spread across denominations and included people

3 Things I’m Grateful For
3 things I’m grateful for… Penny’s desire to attend every sporting event her siblings ever have so that she can cheer them on The fun

America’s Chronic Pain Problem
What if your individual experience of pain is connected to a wider and deeper collective wounding? Is this connected to America’s chronic pain problem? Nicholas

The Significance of Our Social Worlds
I’m taking a class right now where I’m learning all sorts of things about transitioning from high school to college or the workforce and beyond.

Awakened Attention and Achievement Attention
It’s getting harder for me to set goals. I used to look ahead and plot out the course for how to achieve the next big

S6 E18 | Join the Work of Justice with Michelle Ferrigno Warren
How do we step into the good work of kingdom justice? In this episode: hear the story of Michelle Ferrigno Warren, a faith-rooted justice advocate and activist

Inclusion vs the Real World
I’ve had to learn not to sacrifice our daughter on the altar of my ideology. When Penny was a toddler, I read an article about

What Do I Think About the Barbie With Down Syndrome?
What do I think about the new Barbie with Down syndrome? I was a little skeptical at first. She isn’t wearing glasses, which most people

The Gift of Hope Heals
My heart is so full of gratitude and wonder. I had the great honor of spending the past few days with my friends from Hope

7 Things I’m Loving Right Now
1. Shrinking Peter and I started watching Shrinking on AppleTV. We are only two episodes in so far, but we love the characters and the

What an Assessment of My Daughter’s Life Tells Me About Us
Every few years, Penny goes through a series of tests to determine the extent of her disability and, therefore, what services she is eligible to

Making Hard Decisions With Love, Not Fear
Every day brings with it little hard parenting decisions. And every day I’m not sure at all that I get them right. Recently, I’ve decided

Some People Are Awesome
We’ve encountered our fair share of subtle discrimination over the years. The people who talk to me as if Penny isn’t present. The professionals who

Family Hikes Are Like Family Itself
At least one of them complains every single time. Whether it is a stroll by a river or a hike up a mountain or something

Living in Spiritual, and Therefore Material, Reality
It can seem as though the spiritual world and the material world are in tension. That we can have one or the other. We can’t

3 Things I’m (Still) Learning About Down Syndrome
Penny was on spring break last week. Our original hopes for a quick trip to Jamaica never materialized, but we did get to spend two

The Narrow Way to a Spacious Place
I’ve always felt a bit uncomfortable with Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road

S6 E17 | Questions for a Life Worth Living with Matt Croasmun
What should you hope for? What’s worth investing your life in? How do you define and create a flourishing life? Matt Croasmun, co-author of Life